This invention relates to the production of catechol and precursors thereof by the conversion of D-glucose. This invention has been described by the inventors hereto, Frost and Draths, in the J of Am. Chem. Soc 1991, 113, No 24, which reference is incorporated herein in its entirety. Catechol is an exceptionally important molecule used as a starting material in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, pesticides, flavors, fragrances, and polymerization inhibitors.
Production of catechol is currently based on hydroxylation of phenol or distillation of coal-tar. Forceful alkaline hydrolysis of o-chlorophenol was used in the recent past to produce catechol. Fries peroxide rearrangement of salicylaldehyde, cleavage of the monomethyl ether of guaiacol, and biocatalytic oxidation of benzene, benzoate, or phenol are alternative routes which can lead to catechol.
These previous routes of biocatalytic production of catechol require the use of environmentally undesirable compounds such as phenol, benzoic acid or benzene as starting materials, all of which are derived from nonrenewable fossil fuels. Furthermore, previous chemical synthesis of catechol require high temperatures, caustic solutions, metals and peroxides, all of which are viewed as undesirable from an industrial and environmental perspective.
Thus it would be beneficial to develop a method for production of catechol and its precursors starting with a renewable resource, which method would not require caustic agents, metals or other environmentally undesirable agents.
Therefore, it is the intent of the present invention to provide a method for the production of catechol, which method utilizes D-glucose as a starting material, which starting material is derived from a renewable resource such as corn, sugar beets or sugar cane.